The Tribunal’s ruling had not yet been published on 2 December 2020. Moreover, both bills tabled in the parliament as an attempt by the governing party to avert the continuing protests have been withdrawn due to lack of support.
However, in response to the continuing protests, the police are becoming more violent towards completely peaceful demonstrators, arresting and charging them in greater numbers. The Campaign calls on the mainstream media to continue to film and report these events, which must be condemned by the international community as violations of the rule of law.
In a Guardian podcast on 3 December, academic Agnieszka Graff, lawyer Karolina Więckiewicz and gynaecologist Anna Parzyńska discuss their fight for abortion rights.
REQUEST FOR FUNDS (REPEATED): Since Abortion Without Borders (AWB) was launched a year ago, over 4,000 people in Poland have contacted their helpline. Since the virtual abortion ban was announced on 22 October 2020, AWB’s phone number has been written on placards, on the sides of vans, and even held up in parliament. The AWB helpline is now getting 300+ calls every day. They need funds to help women find abortions in other European countries, including the increased number who will need second trimester abortions due to serious and fatal fetal anomalies, which will require hospital care and cost a lot more.
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SOURCES: Personal reports, 2 December 2020; Guardian podcast, 3 December 2020 ; PHOTO of Marta Lempart by Reuters from Financial Times, “Marta Lempart on leading Poland’s abortion rights protests”, 2 December 2020 (article unavailable without subscription) ; Protest photo in Guardian, by Wojtek Radwański/AFP/Getty Images